Jack Connolly wins the Hobey

[Eaglefan06]

Re: Jack Connolly wins the Hobey

You could also argue that Jack might have scored 80 this season had he been centering Herbert and Brown instead of Seidel and Flaherty.

That being said, I also would've chosen Smith, but to suggest Connolly is not a deserving winner or to imply the selection committee are bad people for choosing him is an appalling bunch of sour grapes.

Yeah, a Boston College fan has sour grapes over a Minnesota-Duluth player winning it instead of a Colgate player.

Austin Smith deserved the Hobey Baker this year. Period. He got screwed. That is all.

[dogs2012]

Re: Jack Connolly wins the Hobey

Yeah, a Boston College fan has sour grapes over a Minnesota-Duluth player winning it instead of a Colgate player.

Austin Smith deserved the Hobey Baker this year. Period. He got screwed. That is all.

And based off your statement, it doesn't matter. The thing here is that nobody is arguing that Austin Smith didn't deserve it. He did. But so did Jack Connolly. And so did Spencer Abbott. For the first time in a while, all three were deserving of the award. Jack won it based on statistics, merit, and academics. Did Austin Smith deserve appropriate recognition for his season, yes. But so did Jack. All three were class acts, and put up the numbers and off ice credentials to win the award. Stop being sour about it and understand that all three were deserving of the award, and one of the three won it.

[DropPass]

Re: Jack Connolly wins the Hobey

Yeah, a Boston College fan has sour grapes over a Minnesota-Duluth player winning it instead of a Colgate player.

Austin Smith deserved the Hobey Baker this year. Period. He got screwed. That is all.

If Smith played for BC this year do you think his numbers would have been as good?

[Tipsy McStagger]

Re: Jack Connolly wins the Hobey

I thought Mark Hartigan got shafted, but the high profile programs have more eyeballs on them. Any player on a team that isn't a traditional power is fighting an uphill battle. Might as well get used to it. It won't change,

[DropPass]

Re: Jack Connolly wins the Hobey

I thought Mark Hartigan got shafted, but the high profile programs have more eyeballs on them. Any player on a team that isn't a traditional power is fighting an uphill battle. Might as well get used to it. It won't change,

I guess I should be glad that UMD is "a traditional power."

[Eaglefan06]

Re: Jack Connolly wins the Hobey

And based off your statement, it doesn't matter. The thing here is that nobody is arguing that Austin Smith didn't deserve it. He did. But so did Jack Connolly. And so did Spencer Abbott. For the first time in a while, all three were deserving of the award. Jack won it based on statistics, merit, and academics. Did Austin Smith deserve appropriate recognition for his season, yes. But so did Jack. All three were class acts, and put up the numbers and off ice credentials to win the award. Stop being sour about it and understand that all three were deserving of the award, and one of the three won it.

That is your opinion. My opinion is that one candidate was head and shoulders above the rest.

[Eaglefan06]

Re: Jack Connolly wins the Hobey

If Smith played for BC this year do you think his numbers would have been as good?

They would have been much better. If he had talent like John Gaudreau or Chris Kreider feeding him the puck? He may have broken the record for goals scored.

[willythekid]

Re: Jack Connolly wins the Hobey

That is your opinion. My opinion is that one candidate was head and shoulders above the rest.

Well then you should understand that the selection committee's opinion is that your opinion is stupid and doesn't mean squat...

[Tipsy McStagger]

I guess I should be glad that UMD is "a traditional power."

They aren't. But if BC, UND, Minnesota or Michigan (to name a couple) had a viable candidate this year, do you think Connolly would have won? I doubt it.

Edit: also, I said it is an uphill battle, not impossible to win. Keep up the good work of being a d-bag.

[SteveF]

Re: Jack Connolly wins the Hobey

Until someone wrote it, I hadn't really thought about the number "8 out of the last 11" for the WCHA.

That really does sound ridiculous. I'm a bit biased toward Connolly since, unlike the other two candidates, I saw him play quite a bit, but I'm willing to recognize that inferior statistics and the lack of a standout postseason performance suggest that this one smells a bit. What, of the other 7 winners, is the "smell-test" verdict?

2002: Jordan Leopold, D, Minnesota
The highest scoring player in the country was not Leopold, obviously. It was... his teammate John Pohl. Darren Haydar was the only legitimate scoring candidate from a non-WCHA team (UNH) and Michigan State's Ryan Miller was in play though not having quite as stellar a season as the year before. I saw Leopold a lot in '02, and he was brilliant; a deserving winner on a championship team.

2003: Peter Sejna, F, CC
Peter Sejna was brilliant in '03, and put up a number (82 points) that we have not seen since. Ferris' Chris Kunitz hung a 79, and Cornell's David Leneveau (G) got a token look, but Sejna was dominant. Legitimate win.

2004: Junior Lessard, F, UMD
Weird year. Lessard won on the strength of winning the scoring title with 63 points in a year where the WCHA had 5 of the top 6 scorers, including guys named Parise and Vanek. Jimmy Howard was putting up mind-blowing goaltending numbers but only split time in goal; Hockey East's top scoring candidate was the magnificent Steve Saviano, but he only had 49 points. BC's Ben Eaves was an awesome player, but didn't play a full season. The CCHA didn't have anyone who was Hobey material at all. Not sure that Lessard was the best winner ever, but all the other potential winners were WCHA guys, too. Clean WCHA win.

2005: Marty Sertich, F, CC
I hated this one at the time, partly because Sejna had just won it and Sertich's season was much less impressive, but in retrospect I'm not sure who else you give this to. The second-leading scorer to Sertich was... teammate Brett Sterling. I guess I would have liked it to go to Sterling, but only because I watched him play for the NTDP at the Ice Cube. David McKee was putting up great numbers for Cornell, but by this point everyone knew that with Cornell's system every goaltender was going to put up terrific numbers. The CCHA's best statistical candidates were two Michigan guys, Tambellini and Hensick, and neither were really having superb seasons. I'll give this one a pass, good award.

2006: Matt Carle, D, Denver
I hated this one, too, because I felt that Denver was getting afterglow credit for two straight titles. Maybe they were, but Carle put up 53 points as a defenseman, good for 7th in the country. Ryan Potulny (Minnie) and Chris Collins (BC) led the way in scoring with 63 points each. If you're looking to get out of the WCHA you could call Collins a deserving candidate, and you might be right. Hard to say that Carle wasn't a great player, though. Remember: Through all this the WCHA has completely dominated college hockey. They actually had the best players, so of course they're winning the award. Smell-test: slightly pungent.

2007: Ryan Duncan, F, North Dakota
I was very upset that Hensick did not win and didn't even make the Hat Trick this season. He easily led the nation in scoring with 69 points. Of course, the reason he didn't get in is for the character criteria, and his meltdown in his last game toasted any chance he had for consideration. So, in his absence, the voters gave sophomore Ryan Duncan, the nation's fourth leading scorer (but goal leader with 31) the Hobey Baker.

Duncan was the third best player on his own line (Duncan-Oshie-Teows).

The award would have gone to Eric Ehn of Air Force, second-leading scorer with 64 points. There's no question. Smell test: Stinks to high heaven.

2008-2009: Non WCHA players win! Note, Nathan Gerbe received the same character penalty that Hensick did the previous year.

2010: Blake Geoffrion, F, Wisconsin
11th leading scorer in the nation, not the leading scorer on his own team, leader blahblahblahblah. You know who scored one point less than him that year? Jack Connolly. You know who crushed Wisconsin in the title game? BC, whose Cam Atkinson finished with 53 points and no award. You know who should've won the award? Gustav Nyquist of Maine. Smell test: Stinks to high heaven.

2012: Jack Connolly, F, UMD.
I'll have to let the dust settle on the season to get more perspective. Statistically it's a dead heat.

Verdict: When you say the WCHA has won 8 out of the last 11 Hobey Bakers, it sounds awful. The truth is that most of those awards came in the middle of the last decade when a lot of the best players and teams were in the WCHA. Zach Parise and Tomas Vanek played in the WCHA and never even sniffed the award. There are, in my judgment (and this is only my subjective judgment) only two really smelly WCHA winners.

well done. i'm not going to sit here and say all the BC players you mentioned got robbed, but its pretty silly to think that not one of reasoner/gionta/gerbe/collins/atkinson ever won. tends to look like the process is broken.

i think smith should have won this year, but i knew he wouldnt. but you cant argue with any of the 3 choices.. connolly definitely isnt duncan or geoffrien bad; but yeah, statisically, i had connolly 3rd this year. i hate the career awards they give out for this.

[MinnesotaNorthStar]

Re: Jack Connolly wins the Hobey

Every year all 3 finalists are deserving of the award. I thought Smith was going to get it as well, but Connolly and Abbot certainly had Hobey caliber seasons.

Congrats to Zac Brown Jack Connolly on a great career at tUMD, and winning college hockey's highest individual honor.

[Slap Shot]

Re: Jack Connolly wins the Hobey

They aren't. But if BC, UND, Minnesota or Michigan (to name a couple) had a viable candidate this year, do you think Connolly would have won? I doubt it.

Yes, I'm there's never been a viable candidate from a high-profile team all 5 times a UMD player has won the Hobey. (btw, you do realize Maine has national titles, a previous Hobey winner and plays in the East?)

[carltonbarrett]

Re: Jack Connolly wins the Hobey

If nothing else, I think Marty Reasoner really got screwed in 98, though some have said BC didn't get some required paperwork in to the committee in time or something which hurt his chances. No idea if that is true or not.

[Tipsy McStagger]

Yes, I'm there's never been a viable candidate from a high-profile team all 5 times a UMD player has won the Hobey. (btw, you do realize Maine has national titles, a previous Hobey winner and plays in the East?)

I said an uphill battle. Show me a year where a UMD player won over a player from a more successful program when the UMD player had fewer goals or points.

[Biddco]

Re: Jack Connolly wins the Hobey

They aren't. But if BC, UND, Minnesota or Michigan (to name a couple) had a viable candidate this year, do you think Connolly would have won? I doubt it.

Edit: also, I said it is an uphill battle, not impossible to win. Keep up the good work of being a d-bag.

What is the point of all this?